Axolotl | By Orizatriz (Own work) via Wikimedia CommonsTonight, the movie Errors of the Human Body by director Eron Sheean opens in select theaters, featuring if not stem cells exactly, then at least regenerative properties that can be attributed to stem cells.Those regenerative properties are transferred in the movie from an axolotl, which look like … Continue reading Stem cells make the big screen in "Errors of the Human Body"

Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week. Some are groundbreaking science, others are of personal interest to us, and still others are just fun. Lab grown kidney works. Given events in Boston this week, it seems fitting to start with a story about work by my old colleagues at Massachusetts … Continue reading Stem cell Stories that caught our eye: arthritis therapy, replacement kidneys and trachea transplants

Image courtesy of bottled_voidOK, so the news still isn't good for those of us living with constant, grinding stress of work, kids and household responsibilities. Such stress can cause the body to release hormones responsible for heart disease and depression, and squelches the production of new neurons in the brain, impairing memory.But new research out … Continue reading Stressed out? Fear not: small doses might be good for your stem cells

Last year our grantee at Stanford University, Marius Wernig, figured out how to turn human skin cells directly into a type of nerve cell. That was big news at the time. Until then, the process of going from skin to nerves required creating an intermediate stem cell (the Nobel prize-winning iPS cells), which slows the … Continue reading Presto chango: skin cells converted into cells that could treat MS and other conditions

Disease in a dish, iPS, induced pluripotent cells, differentiation, Yamanaka factors, embryonic vs adult stem cells. Do you grapple with clearly understanding this stem cell jargon? Or maybe you’re a stem cell scientist who struggles to explain it? Well, then the animated video Drawn to Science: Stem Cells in Research is a must see for … Continue reading Are you jumbled up by stem cell jargon? This two minute animation is your new best friend.

Alexander RamosFile this research under “Clever uses for household junk.” In this case, that junk is in your DNA and the clever use is in building brain tissue.Our DNA contains long stretches of stuff that, because it didn’t immediately have a use, was originally classified as “junk”. This so-called junk DNA was thought to just … Continue reading Clever use for cellular junk: building the brain

Many folks in science toss around the term interdisciplinary pretty freely. But few put it into action as thoroughly as the organizers of the World Stem Cell Summit. This multi-track event will be coming to San Diego December 4-6. The official announcement is here.Now in its ninth year, the Summit has matured into a truly … Continue reading The stem cell conference designed for everyone is returning to California

Image courtesty of DBFansiteEvery week millions of people tune in to ‘American Idol’ to watch singers who have three minutes to impress Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey and the gang, and demonstrate that they have the talent to be a star. It’s tough, testing the performer’s ability to perform well in public, under pressure and still … Continue reading Move over J.Lo and Simon Cowell, scientists are the new American Idols

Diving and swooping through the neurons of an actual brain makes for what might be the most awesome video ever, created by Nature as part of their story on work by our grantees at Stanford University. Karl Deisseroth, whose work this is, has managed to preserve the intricate, intertwining mesh of connections in the brain … Continue reading Most awesome video ever dives and swoops through the structures of an actual brain

Students in the new stem cell research course at SFSU (photo from SFSU)Our friends at San Francisco State University have started a course that I wish every person could take: they are introducing non-science majors to the science and politics of stem cell biology. I love the idea of having non-scientists learn more about issues … Continue reading Non-science majors learning about stem cell research at San Francisco State @SFState_News